Kitsch Queen: Michelle Iervolino's Red Delicious

Walking into the apartment of Michelle Iervolino, it’s quite obvious that you’re stepping into the headquarters of an ambitious young designer-in-the-making. The colorful walls, intriguing artwork and scattered jewelry and mannequins all dressed up just scream creation and inspiration. Everywhere you look there’s something that catches the eye and just begs for questions; and it’s abundantly clear upon the first few steps into the realm of this do-it-yourself Diva, that something great is transpiring behind those front doors.

After only a few months of working as a manager at Urban Outfitters in Montclair, NJ, Michelle has managed to infiltrate the store with her vintage, comic book and musically inspired designs, and she’s on the verge of becoming the next big thing in the fashion industry. Whether she’s making jewelry out of remnants that were left out on the side of a building, revamping an old pair of pumps or a bag, or sitting in her apartment rocking out to some of her favorite bands like Sonic Youth, Deftones and Freezepop, Michelle is constantly looking for new ideas and inspirations to go along with her already very eclectic taste.

Heavily influenced by her two favorite fashion icons, Rebecca De Mornay (in Risky Business) and Clarissa Darling from the MTV show Clarissa Explains It All, as well as legendary comic book artist Joe Kubert, whom Michelle has had the opportunity to work and hang out with, her main focus is on taking the old and making it new by putting her own special twist on it. It didn’t take long for the buyers at Urban to realize that they had struck gold when she showed them her designs, and she has actually just finished manufacturing, all by her self, an entire line of jewelry and accessories for the popular retail store. In addition, she has been invited to extend her stay and be a guest artist, which enables her to have clothing, shoes and hand bags displayed as well for Urban Outfitter’s holiday line.

Cleverly named Red Delicious, Michelle’s unique brand is sure to please fashion savvy shoppers everywhere. Her chunky jewelry, which has been literally covered with the pages right out of her favorite comic books, is the perfect accessory for the trendy, yet off-the-cuff girl. From plastic earrings shaped like french fries and anchors, to long chain necklaces featuring gold swallows and beads, to shoes from when your mother was 17 with clean lines of comic book strips laid across the tip, to boxy bags with buttons and, what else but more comics, Red Delicious takes a Warhol approach to fashion; by taking ordinary, everyday objects and icons and turning them into wearable art, Michelle has created the beginning of an empire that knows no limits.

Her line of sweaters, which steers away from the comic book theme and more into the not-so-girly-girl realm of design, are the perfect finishing touch to any day-to-day ensemble. A self proclaimed tomboy, Michelle has figured out a way to combine her girly flare for fashion with her boyish side, and has conjured up a line of crafty cardigans to be included in the Urban Outfitter’s holiday line. Taking a cue from her own dueling personality, Michelle took items such as a man’s tie and incorporated them with a girly sweater by sewing it around the collar or by cutting and sewing holes in the waistline of the cardigan and then pulling the tie through to create a wrap sweater. She raised the hemlines and added some colorful stitching and voila, Red Delicious now boasts a unique, gender bending sweater line to add to its repertoire.

So how did this come about; did Michelle just happen to get lucky? Well, in a sense, yes, she’s very lucky to be doing what she loves and be successful at it; but this isn’t just some fluke that happened to a kid who likes to throw together a bunch of junk and call it fashion. She’s been working hard for this for as long as she can remember. Ever since she was younger Michelle always marched to the beat of her own drum and found interesting ways to create new looks out of clothing that she already had; “I would just always, if I didn’t like what I was wearing, I’d cut my shirt or paint on it in art class and people just looked at me and were like, ‘You’re crazy.’ I still have in my yearbook ‘I love your Chuck Taylors and Doc Martins – NOT!’ and I just want to find this guy and be like, ‘Who are you? What are you doing?’”

Well, if this high school heckler was to look up his class alum he’d certainly find out that she’s been making good use of her creative drive. Since those days, Michelle’s quirky personality has been blossoming and developing into a breeding ground for trend-setting greatness. She’s been able to pick up and take with her bits and pieces of inspiration and creative genius throughout her travels as she floated in and out of school, internships and jobs. She’s worked with Joe Kubert and other comic book drawers responsible for the popular X-Men and Batman series as well as indulged in a little bit of high fashion while working and creating window displays for Neiman Marcus. But it wasn’t until she came to Urban Outfitters that she seized the opportunity to make her dream a reality.

Taking a cue from the popular Urban Renewal line in which vintage pieces are redesigned to become something new, but still old, Michelle has created Red Delicious, a fabulous, trend-setting, unique take on fashion and individuality. She now has pieces being sold in Urban Outfitters by people from all over the world such as California, New Zealand, Vermont, Rhode Island, Boston and many more; and she shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. This girl wants to take over the world – or at least the part of it that’s obsessed with Urban Outfitters, aka “Urbans.” Though she loves her current position, and takes pride in helping other employees enjoy their jobs, she’s hoping to eventually move up the ladder into a buying position for the Renewal division of the company, and plans on continuing to create her kitchy designs all along the way. Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open because this is certainly only the first that you’ve heard of Red Delicious, a kick ass fashion company by Michelle Iervolino.

Check out Michelle’s super cute Red Delicious designs at Urban Outfitters stores and on the web at reddelicious.bigcartel.com and myspace.com/reddeliciousthings. Happy shopping!